M&S CEO Stuart Machin sees pay reach £7m pre cyber attack

Machin’s rising remuneration was mostly driven by the awarding of company shares, with the chief executive receiving £4.5m. He received £2.6m the preceding year, with the increase due to the retailer hitting various performance targets, including profit and share price. 

His basic salary went up by 2% to £843,000, while his bonus of £1.6m was up £100,000 on the year before. 

The retailer recently said it was expecting a £300m hit as a result of the cyber attack, which has prevented the brand from fulfilling online orders since Easter. Despite that, the company’s latest set of results in late May showed profits before tax and adjusting items up 22.2%. 

Speaking at the time, Machin said “M&S has net funds of over £400m and we are in our best financial health for nearly 30 years.”

In its annual report, the retailer said that the remuneration committee “considered the recent cyber incident and concluded no adjustments were needed to the 2024-25 incentive outcomes, but recognised it would need to revisit the matter in the context of the 2025-26 remuneration outcomes. 

The UK’s National Crime Agency has identified hacker community Scattered Spider as a key target in its investigation into the cyber attacks against M&S and other retailers.